She braced herself for the shock of the cold water and took a leap of faith. Cold was an understatement. She regretted the decision to jump in, but the current was too strong to allow her to flail back to the ledge. Besides, she swam like a rock. Sheer will power anchored Astral in place. God help her if she needed to move. She glared at the icy torrent rushing toward her as though it would decide to steer off course to avoid her. It remained oblivious to her death stare.

"Let's get this over with." Her bones ached with the cold. Her teeth chattered despite pressing her lips against her teeth in a vain attempt to hide her frailty. She needed to follow Seth to the agreed destination, even if the path lead them straight through Hell. She couldn't leave the access points unchecked.

The captain nodded and took hold of her waist, pulling her back with him. "Right here. In another step, there's a drop off that we're going to follow. It's deep. I can carry you on my back if you want help with keeping your head above water. I can walk it, no problem. You'll have to mind your head, though."

She nodded. He took a step back, forcing himself down before the current could drag him away.

Seth's soul was a beacon of light. She had never seen someone with such an intensity to their soul that it would wipe out all other colors that lurked within. It was like he was wearing the sun. It was difficult to see the physical version of Seth though from time to time she could glimpse a piece of him as his brilliant aura shifted.

He held her hand as he turned his back toward her. "Get on."

She climbed onto his back and took a deep breath just as he jumped into a second drop-off. The unwelcome chill of the water rose to her neck. She tightened her hold around Seth's shoulders as he shifted the burden of her weight. The captain moved toward the canyon wall. She didn't see anything special about it. She prayed that they wouldn't have to dive.

He passed through the wall. A hologram? She craned her head to see the opening. The illusion blocked her view of the world beyond. As far as she could see, the river was rushing into the passage from nowhere, materializing from nothing. It was a well-crafted illusion to block the flow of life energy from view.

The water reflected it's purity at her, lighting up the narrow tunnel as it pushed against them as though desperate to reveal its long-kept secrets. The river felt warm and welcoming, to point of excitement, when just a few steps prior, the water was violent and oppressive.

As Seth had claimed months earlier, nothing in Council's Academy's blueprints suggested the existence of these tunnels. Her father had taught her to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism when it came to publicly accessible documentation. In retrospect, it was an odd thing to teach a six-year-old, but the advice had come in handy since his passing. Philip had been a great resource in retrieving the Academy's building plans as far back as the inception of the former Military Regime. Data from powers prior to the former world order were lost, destroyed, or overwritten with newer data. It reminded her of something Mathias had told her about history. "Victors dictate the narrative of the past. To assume control over the population, proof of the old history had to be destroyed while a new revised version ended up taught to the newly educated."

Historically, it was common knowledge that the Academy had been the primary training grounds for elite soldiers. It was also known that the regime thrived on brutality, likely mimicking their adversaries in the demon war. They had built three coliseums as a tribute to their prowess; the victors would be appointed their own armies, riches, and women to breed more strong soldiers. In many ways, those same tributes were rewarded to participating members in the present day. The Academy had been a very different place twenty years earlier.

When the Council attained power, the academy's reputation was one of the few remnants of the cruel regime that it wished to keep. As far as Astral could see, all they had managed to do was water down their results with the politically motivated. The elitist squad members were wasting valuable time and resources that should have been used on those who would ultimately march into certain death. Even then, they were training against men, not demons.

Astral didn't think it was too much of a stretch that Military Regime knew that their reign was coming to an end and opted to destroy the very same resource that the Council wished to use for themselves. For men in power the choices were simple: maintain control by any means necessary or destroy them all.

She considered the possibility that the ghost in the machine was much older. The Hunter hoped that wasn't the case, but she needed to be prepared for that scenario. An older demon meant a stronger, smarter demon; but that also meant that there was a possibility that the former regime knew nothing of the beast that lurked beneath their training facility. Combined with the fact that the ghost was an energy demon, Seth's pet project might be too dangerous to toy with for much longer. Once she finished her inspection and determined what exactly she was up against, she could devise a plan that would give her the advantage.

Her process in stalking the ghost would have been a great lesson for Seth. Hunting wasn't only about killing demons; it was about learning their prey, the environment, laying traps and building defenses. It was about memorizing every nook and cranny, every street, every window. It was about training the Hunters mind and body to deal with the singular threat on the people that they had chosen to protect. The Red Order knew as much, which is why Mathias was able to call Clearwater home. He would recognize a shift in his territory's environment. A Hunter's job was to prevent the demons from claiming new territory.

Hunting was not always about dealing with the demons head on. The Council's Academy had a history that could kill a bold hunter. She'd have to tread carefully when she made her move. She wasn't a fool. She could see that the odds were stacked against her. It bothered her that the ghost hadn't gone for the kill. Was it hoping that she'd go away?

Seth wouldn't be happy about her killing the ghost. He saw the damned machine as his salvation. Maybe if she removed his hope, she might be able to get through to him. There was no glory in being a Hunter. He needed to stop trying to be a hero. He needed to unlearn the games.

With Seth as her pack mule, they traveled deeper into the darkness. She kept her head low, unable to see any living thing beyond Seth's vibrant soul and the dim receding flow of the rivers energy. It was unusual for a soul to not light up the world around it. It was moments like these that she had to deal with the fact that she was blind. Her unique ability to see the world was a trait of her stigma, who in exchange took her ability to see the world as any normal person would. Granted, it was only in moments when the environment was completely devoid of life and rendered in such a sterile state that she felt helpless. It wasn't like she couldn't see the world under most circumstances. Her stigma hadn't completely taken over, but it was inevitable that one day it would leave her seeing nothing but souls wandering around in darkness.

She preferred the wilderness. No one could see the forest as she could. No one could see the neon brightness of the flowers and the trees. They couldn't appreciate the fiery path of a row of marching ants or the twinkling threads of the butterflies.

The winter would be worse when the life force of the insects and animal life went into their hibernation state, hidden under several feet of snow. Without a soul to light up her world, she would be left in a state of near darkness.

She felt the walls brush up against her shoulder as Seth shifted her weight. He hadn't complained once, even though the water levels had dropped to his ankles. "You can put me down," she told him in a quiet whisper with an added double tap to his chest.

"Are you okay?" The concern in his voice was grating.

"I'm fine, do you have a light?" The air was sticky and hot, mixed with a light gold haze that fought against the push of the water. The mist reminded her of the fog that hovered over the Memorial Site when the demon was gathering energy. The spiritual essence collected in the passage was too weak to escape.

"It's been on the whole time," Seth replied. That's just embarrassing.